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MRO
MAINTENANCE, REPAIR
AND OPERATIONS (MRO)
BEST PRACTICES

T
his report is published by NetexpressUSA Inc. d/b/a Reliabilityweb.com® to advance the
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 Mro
mro-spares
management

MAINTENANCE, REPAIR
AND OPERATIONS (MRO)
BEST PRACTICES

A
good maintenance storeroom is a well-oiled machine. Imagine
99.9 percent service levels for critical spares or window wait times
under 10 minutes 95 percent of the time. A great storeroom gives
you the capability to figure out what unidentified parts actually are or to know
when your special order parts hit the receiving dock.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 3

 TS
E N
N T
C O 5 BENEFITS
6 CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS
7 TWO ISSUES
8 IMPACT ON MAINTENANCE
9 MRO STORES SUPPORT THE AIM
12 HOW TO EVALUATE YOUR STOCKROOM
13 BATTLES BETWEEN TWO DESIRABLE OUTCOMES
14 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR THE
MRO STOREROOM
21 SURVEY RESULTS
37 INDUSTRY INSIGHT
39 RESOURCES
40 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
41 ABOUT RELIABILITYWEB.COM

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 4

 BENEFITS

G
ood or great maintenance, repair and
operations (MRO) stores deliver the
following benefits to the organization:

 Higher production by reducing efficiency

losses due to part lead time.

 Higher quality and safety because the correct

original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts
are used instead of “will fits”
or substitutions.

 Reduced risk due to more elements of

maintenance work being immediately
accessible.

 Higher morale due to fewer unfinished jobs,

higher uptime and better quality.

 Increased overall cost efficiency and

profitability.

The Reliabilityweb.com® Maintenance Management

Benchmarking Survey (http://reliabilityweb.
com/best-practices-maintenance) shows that
a good number of companies have successful
and capable storerooms. The survey also shows
a wide variation that includes firms with little
or no expertise in maintenance spare parts
management. This report explores the self-
reported conditions of those storerooms and
provides insight on the survey results.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 5

 CONDITIONS
FOR SUCCESS

T
here is a cost to greatness in stores management. Surprisingly,
the primary cost is not measured in money, but in leadership
and the will to make the storeroom workable. To have
greatness, or even competence, there are four main conditions that
must be met.

THESE FOUR CONDITIONS INCLUDE:

1 The business processes and procedures that run the storeroom
and supply chain are well understood, properly followed and
occasionally audited. The system is easy to use correctly and is
used correctly.

2 Having parts usage, cost, lead time, vendor reliability and

accurate data and accessible to analysis activity.

3 A global item master that includes manufacturer make and

model, consistent description nomenclature, unit of measure (UOM),
attributes and pricing; where possible drive toward complete bills
of materials (BOMs) and exploded view diagrams.

4 Leveraging the whole organization with consistent language,

nomenclature, vendor intelligence, understanding and linkage to
the complete supply chain.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 6

 TWO ISSUES
TWO SEPARATE ISSUES COME TOGETHER
IN THE MRO STOREROOM.

1
One issue is the maintenance strategy as defined by reliability
strategy development (Uptime® Element™ Rsd) activities. In
these activities, the best way to support the asset is defined.
This definition leads to the sourcing and stocking of particular
spares.

2
The second issue comes into play when a part is selected to
be stocked. Once the stocking decision is made, establishing
the min/max, reorder point and order quantity is based on the
criticality of the equipment and part to the equipment, lead
time, cost and estimated usage. Once actual usage is known,
the formulas should be adjusted.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 7

 IMPACT
ON MAINTENANCE

S
trong management of the spare part supply chain often translates
to success for the maintenance department. Observations show
40 percent of the losses of maintenance tradespeople’s time can
be attributed to spare parts. The Reliabilityweb.com benchmarking survey
shows that some firms are doing pretty well. For example, 68 percent of the
maintenance department respondents control what is stocked. Less than 20
percent can say they have their orders fulfilled 95 percent of the time. This
means 80 percent do not.

Uptime Elements ® ™

Rsd REM Reliability Engineering

for Maintenance
Technical Activities

ACM Asset Condition

Management WEM Work Execution
Management LER
Leadership

Leadership
for Reliability AM
Business Processes

Asset Management
reliability
strategy
development Ca Rsd Aci Vib Fa Pm Ps Es Opx Sp Cr Samp
criticality reliability asset vibration fluid preventive planning and executive operational strategy and corporate strategic asset
analysis strategy condition analysis analysis maintenance scheduling sponsorship excellence plans responsibility management
development information plan

Re Rca Ut Ir Mt Odr Mro Hcm Cbl Ri Ak Alm

Mro
reliability root cause ultrasound infrared motor operator driven mro-spares human capital competency risk asset asset lifecycle
engineering analysis testing thermal testing reliability management management based management knowledge management
imaging learning

Cp Rcd Ab Ndt Lu De Cmms computerized

Int Rj Dm Pi Ci
capital reliability alignment and non machinery defect maintenance integrity reliability decision performance continuous
project centered balancing destructive lubrication elimination management journey making indicators improvement
management design testing
mro-spares
system

management
A Reliability Framework and Asset Management System™
Reliabilityweb.com’s Asset Management Timeline
Operate
Business Residual
Needs Analysis Design Create/Acquire Maintain Dispose/Renew
Liabilities
Modify/Upgrade

Asset Lifecycle

Reprinted with permission from NetexpressUSA Inc. d/b/a Reliabilityweb.com and its affiliates. Copyright © 2016-2017. All rights reserved. No part of this graphic may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior express
written consent of NetexpressUSA Inc. Reliabilityweb.com®, Uptime® Elements™ and A Reliability Framework and Asset Management System™ are trademarks and registered trademarks of NetexpressUSA Inc. in the U.S. and several other countries.

reliabilityweb.com • maintenance.org • reliabilityleadership.com

This report explores what firms are doing and what can be enhanced.
Interspersed is the logic based on asset management principles. As
important as it is, the MRO function is only one tile in the Uptime® Elements™
Work Execution Management knowledge domain. But, in the Rsd tile, the
maintenance strategy is developed. The maintenance strategy begets the
stocking strategy.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 8

 MRO STORES
SUPPORT THE AIM

T
he MRO stores operation has its roots in helping maintenance
fulfill the AIM (i.e., mission, vision, values) of the organization. All
performance, all metrics and all policies and procedures are directed
toward the AIM.

Before you can even discuss the inventory, you must look at the goals and
objectives of the organization. You should determine the AIM of the company
or organization to ensure the goals of maintenance spare part management
are in alignment. This inquiry would be specific for the organization.

AS AN EXAMPLE, LET’S SAY YOUR MISSION IS TO:

1 Manufacture a high quality product,

2 at a reasonable cost.

3 Make a long-term profit for financial stakeholders.

4 Conduct business with integrity and have respect for the

communities we work in, for employees, customers and
vendors, and for the planet.

With this AIM in hand, you can establish some objectives for the storeroom.
You can also align the goals of the storeroom with the AIM of the organization.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 9

 MRO STORES
SUPPORT THE AIM

FOR EXAMPLE:

u Provide the parts needed to minimize downtime for maintenance

(pertains to mission statements 1, 3, 4);

u Ensure you buy the appropriate quality parts (mission statements 1, 2, 3, 4);

u Provide parts to avoid safety or environmental incidents (mission

statement 4);

u Use inventory to minimize the costs of acquisition of the parts

consistent with the goal to minimize use of cash to meet this goal
(mission statements 2, 3);

u Be sure to use all parts purchased and do not allow parts to be

damaged or spoil (mission statements 2, 3, 4).

The stockroom has its own objectives to support the AIM in its own unique
way. These objectives are internal to the stockroom and should also cascade
from the company’s AIM.

FOR EXAMPLE:

u Know where everything is.

u Service the people at the issue window within XX minutes.

u Institute a disciplined change control process to ensure the appropriate

approved parts are what is in stock.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 10

 MRO STORES
SUPPORT THE AIM

u Receive, inspect and notify requester of parts within XX minutes of

when they come in.

u Keep accurate counts - Closed storeroom with 24x7 service should

have 98% inventory accuracy; open storeroom (generally no
guarantees, but 80% accuracy is reasonable).

u Protect parts from spoilage, theft and damage.

u Be sure to use a proven stocking methodology so inventory is held

in appropriate quantities to support the maintenance strategy.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 11

HOW TO EVALUATE
YOUR STOCKROOM

Look closely at the bunch of bins in the storeroom. Note if any have
more than one part.

Write down any bins that are empty. Check if the parts are on reorder
and if they are expected soon.

Do you have a storage area for “hot shot,” expedited parts, or air
freighted parts? If so, check the dates they arrived. Note the number of
packages there over two days.

Look at the number of stock outs per month and especially the number
of stock outs of important parts causing downtime. Ask maintenance
for specific jobs that were delayed due to parts. Check them out and
answer why.

Random sample the waiting time at the window, reporting the average
and standard deviation.

Determine how many parts didn’t move at all in the last year. Are they
critical parts?

Are the warehouse basics and their numbers well known:

Value of stock (by category), number of SKUs, turnover, accuracy, etc.?

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 12

BATTLES BETWEEN
TWO DESIRABLE OUTCOMES

F
inance demands the most efficient use of funds. Reduced funding
requirements with similar or greater output shows progress and a
less wasteful operation. As such, it requires reduced levels of MRO
inventory. This is a desirable goal.

Maintenance and operations demand the lowest downtime possible (and

occasionally even beyond that). This is also a desirable goal. Sometimes,
spare parts that are critical for the safe operation of critical equipment are
stocked for long periods of time without use. Good inventory practices say to
dispose of any part not used for years.

Q How do you resolve this battle between

two desirable outcomes that are in
direct conflict?

The answer is always to return to the AIM of the

organization and see how that informs the decision.
Is potential downtime (i.e., some risk that has a
cost and a probability of occurrence) more valuable
than the certain savings from disposal of all old
A
stock? If the chance of a fatality or environmental
incident is added to the mix, the calculation is more
complicated, but still must be done.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 13

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
FOR THE MRO STOREROOM

STOCK SERVICE JOBS OTHER THINGS TO

TURNS
LEVEL LEVEL WAITING MEASURES MEASURE

STOCK LEVEL
The stockroom makes a service agreement with maintenance to stock
certain parts in quantities adequate to supply maintenance needs. A stock
out occurs when the stockroom runs out of a stocked part when it is needed.
The measurement of this service agreement is stocking level.

Different parts should have different stocking levels. A common part

available locally is less critical to hold than a long lead time OEM
replacement part on a critical asset.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) flow directly from the AIM of the
organization. They are a subset of performance indicators (Pi), which may
or may not be “key” indicators. KPIs are the few measures that keep you in
action with your continuous improvement (Ci) effort.

How do you measure this inventory when most of the well-established KPIs
were developed to manage the inventory of retail stores, not storerooms?
If you segment the inventory appropriately, you can use these traditional
metrics.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 14

 STOCK LEVEL
In keeping with the theme that the storeroom services the maintenance
department and the maintenance department is in a leadership position in
mitigating the risk of downtime, then the first metric is service level, as shown
in Table 1.

Table 1: Guide to Performance Indicators for MRO Storerooms

MEASURE
Service Level by SKU
Service Level
by Work Order
Jobs Waiting
(by reason)
Turns, also turns by
inventory category
Variance Report by SKU
$ Value, S Value by
Category, $ Value
by RAV*
DESCRIPTION
Service level for critical spares 100% unless a business decision
is made; Other categories can be lower, such as Routine Spares
- 95%, Consumables - 80%, etc.
> 95% for all
> 99% for critical spares
Approximately 50% of the backlog work orders are waiting
for some reason. The level is trended to look for changes.
< 25% for parts
For the entire inventory, 2 times per year
If you exclude critical spares, 4 to 5 times per year
< 2%-3% Major company initiated a storeroom audit when
level hit 3%
Good metric to monitor overall amount of money to support
assets; Value by category helps identify where the action is
taking place.

Average Number of
Window Visits per Day
If their ratio $ value per RAV is too different from peers, these
values inform managers if there is a structural problem or
advantage.
Help the storeroom build lean programs, and waste reduction
and defect elimination projects

Average Wait Time

Define transaction density, which helps with crew and tooling
Number of SKUs
(e.g., scanners, automation, etc.) decisions
(line items in inventory)

Number of Shipments the

Storeroom Receives Each
Month
* RAV: Replacement asset value or today’s cost to replace all assets

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 15

SERVICE LEVEL
Typically, you want a 95 to 97 percent average service level. This means that
95 times out of 100, the storeroom has the parts they should have. Some
firms calculate service level on a work order basis. Out of 100 work orders
needing parts, how many are turned away due to any part missing? This
metric is more indicative of what the maintenance department feels.

Some organizations divide the parts by category to get service level by

category. This results in several service levels, such as divide by criticality
of asset (would include insurance policy spares), locally available spares,
standard spares (bearings) or consumables. Service levels for other spares
can be lower. Critical spares for critical assets should be 100 percent, if
possible. Unless a business decision is made to NOT stock and accept the
consequences, consideration should be made to care for the parts since
they might be on the shelf for a long time.

Here are some examples of service levels:

90-95% 85% 80%

OEM spares for Items available Consumables
less critical assets locally

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 16

JOBS WAITING (BY REASON)

WAI T I N G

This measure is a count of work orders that

cannot be executed because something is
missing. This is not purely a MRO storeroom
metric, but jobs waiting due to parts is. The
number of jobs waiting for something should
be tracked and trended. All major contributors
to jobs waiting, such as waiting for parts, should
be broken out on the same display.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 17

TURNS
Turns expresses how fast the value of the inventory is consumed compared
to what is on the shelf (i.e., inventory value/annual purchases). This is a metric
where it is useful to not include critical or insurance policy parts. These
expensive and long lead time parts are purchased to manage risk. If you end
up using them before the life of the asset is up, then you’ve had a failure in
your preventive maintenance (PM) or precision maintenance program.

Once the critical parts are removed, the turns should look more like an
industrial distributor, with turns of two to four per year. On fast moving items,
your turns can be quite a bit higher because you can stock fewer items and
have frequent replenishment.

TURNS EXPRESSES HOW

FAST THE VALUE OF THE
INVENTORY IS CONSUMED
COMPARED TO WHAT IS
ON THE SHELF.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 18

OTHER MEASURES
THAT ARE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, BUT NOT NECESSARILY KPIs:

DOLLAR VALUE OF STORES BROKEN

DOWN BY CATEGORY:
This is useful to see changes in usage or usage
mix. If you stop using a part due to a change,
you must also get rid of or use up the inventory.

DOLLAR VALUE OF INVENTORY/

REPLACEMENT ASSET VALUE (RAV):
This metric is useful for a company that has
several similar plants. With all other things being
equal, RAV should stay the same, within some
variation for age, product mix and other variables.

VARIANCE REPORT (E.G., INVENTORY

ON SHELF / QUANTITY ON HAND (QOH) /
QUANTITY IN SYSTEM):
You are interested in the accuracy of your
processes. This variance report is important to
see if there are holes in the process or system.
Get your variance to one or two percent, or lower.

COST OF POSSESSION REPORT, ALSO

KNOWN AS COST OF OWNERSHIP:
A summary of all the costs to hold stock, including
labor, management, insurance, depreciation,
damage, pilferage, cost of money, etc.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 19

 THINGS TO MEASURE
THAT MIGHT LEAD TO WASTE ELIMINATION:

Average Number of SKUs

wait time (i.e., line items in
inventory)
Average
number of
window visits Number of shipments
per day the storeroom
receives each month

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 20

MAINTENANCE INVENTORY
AND PURCHASING
SURVEY RESULTS
RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 21
1 MATERIALS
IN STORES
More than 95% 19.73%

What percent
WHEN REQUESTED

80 to 95% 33.63% of the time are

materials in stores
70 to 79% 19.28%
when required by
the maintenance
organization?
50 to 69% 16.14%

Less than 50% 11.21%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

As you can see in the graph, the top quartile averages 95 percent or better
in stocking level. This is the average of critical spares (should approach 100
percent) and common items (85 percent might be fine.)

One issue is when you have a maintenance job that requires several to many
spare parts. If the job requires 15 parts and the stocking level averages 97
percent, the chance that all parts will be there when you start the job is only
63.3 percent (this is called conjunctive probability).

This scenario is a big argument for kitting maintenance jobs in advance. That
way, the kitter can ensure parts are in stock before the job is scheduled.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 22

2
100%

90%
PERCENTAGE
OF ITEMS
What percent of the items
IN THE STORES
CATALOG

80% in inventory appear in the

70% maintenance stores catalog?
60%

50%

40%
37.22%
30%
24.22%
20%
16.59%
10%
12.11% 9.87%
0%

90% or more 75 to 89% 60 to 74% 40 to 59% Less than 40%

Any item that is in the storeroom also should be found in the stores catalog.
Organizations should have an ongoing effort to add stocked items to the
catalog because anything not in the catalog will be difficult to find for
maintenance workers. Not surprisingly, the top third of the firms responding
to the survey have 90 percent or better coverage. What is surprising is that
26 percent of the firms have less than 60 percent coverage.

Low coverage means parts are direct purchased and may be going around
the system, and often at a higher cost. It is difficult to derive usage, lead time
and other data from direct purchased parts.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 23

3 100%
WHO CONTROLS
WHAT STOCKED
ITEMS ARE

Who controls
90%
what is stocked
80% as maintenance
70% 68.16% inventory items?
60%

50%

40%
31.84%
30%

20%

10%

0%

MAINTENANCE ANYONE ELSE

Who controls what, who says what the stocking level is and who “owns” the
inventory are less important questions than whether the business process
is followed faithfully. In the survey, over 68 percent of the respondents’
maintenance department controlled what was stocked.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 24

3
QUESTIONS
WHO CONTROLS
WHAT STOCKED
ITEMS ARE

A well-known stereotype is when

maintenance controls the storeroom, the
What is the value of the inventory skyrockets. The other
process for adding stereotype is when finance or purchasing
a part to stock? manages the storeroom, the value plummets.
The right balance is a storeroom that has
Is it sufficiently reasonable rules for stocking and serves the
difficult to AIM of the organization at the lowest practical
eliminate frivolous cost.
parts from being
The important issue is how parts are
stocked?
identified to be stocked. If the business
process considers the criticality of the asset,
Is it easy enough
the criticality of the part to the function of the
to add parts when
asset, the lead time and the maintenance
they need to
be tracked and strategy, then it does not matter who controls
managed? the stockroom.

By the same token, organizations will argue

If the answers about the stocking level (i.e., quantity kept
are yes, on hand). If the business process considers
then look to see if the how many parts are used at a time, safety
procedure is sound stock, lead time and criticality, and runs a
and well followed. If daily report (sometimes called an MRP report)
it is, then who applies of items that have hit the reorder point and
the rules is irrelevant. issues a purchase order to reorder, then
whatever the quantity stocked is fine.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 25

4 MAINTENANCE
CATALOG FORMAT

57.40%

The
maintenance
stores catalog
is produced
by:
5.83% 22.42%
14.35%

57.40% Alphabetic and numeric listings 22.42% Catalog is incomplete or non-existent

14.35% Numeric only 5.83% Alphabetic only

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 26

4 MAINTENANCE
CATALOG FORMAT

The maintenance catalog is an integral part of an effective storeroom.

The catalog allows maintenance personnel to shop for parts, supplies and
consumables and gives the stores person valid and accurate part numbers
and descriptions. It is the difference between asking for a 3-inch bearing and
a 32-34291 bearing with the appropriate description.

A good catalog reduces the number of mistakes

made. Since mistakes are defects, the catalog is
part of your defect elimination program.

The survey asked whether the parts are listed numerically or alphabetically.
The catalog in a world-class storeroom is organized numerically by stores
part number and alphabetically by standard description and asset. Having
exploded bills of material for every accessible asset and pictures/drawings of
each part is an increasingly essential system functionality.

Almost 80 percent of survey respondents had some kind of catalog and

the overwhelming majority, 57 percent, had both alphabetical and numeric
listings. Unfortunately, 22 percent of respondents were without even a
rudimentary store catalog. This lack will cost them both in wasted time for
the maintenance workers and increased downtime.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 27

5
100%

90%

80%
AISLE/BIN
LOCATION SPECIFIED

70%
The aisle/bin location is
60%
specified for what percent
50%
of the stores items?
38.57%
40%

30% 22.42%
18.83%
20% 13.00%
7.17%
10%

0%

More than 95% 90 to 95% 80 to 89% 70 to 79% Less than 70%

Once the catalog is in place, the next barrier is an intelligent, logical layout.
Parts should be easily and consistently locatable. As the storeroom becomes
more organized and the names of the bin locations are pinned, a unit-shelf-
bin locator becomes important. It is used to both shelve incoming stock and
locate parts for issuance.

World-class storerooms have well-thought-out numbering that is consistently

applied to both work orders and receipts of parts.

This best practice allows people to find critical spares on an emergency

basis when the stockroom is not covered. It also facilitates in training new
stockroom team members.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 28

6 PERCENT OF ITEMS
CHARGED TO A WORK ORDER
OR ACCOUNT

What percent of the

maintenance stores items
are issued to work order
or account number upon
leaving the store?
25
% .
39
In an ideal world, 100 percent of all items
are charged to a work order, overhead
account, or production account. In
practice, the situation is quite a bit more
complicated. A big example is open bin
parts, such as low cost nuts and bolts
or fittings, which are neither tracked nor
individually managed.

11

More than 50 percent of the

%
31.

respondents do a decent job of

assigning costs to work orders or
accounts. This is important because
6.28%

maintenance decisions need to be

based on facts and data that is complete
and accurate. If a third or more of the
13

45 SKUs are not tracked to the work order,

.

.77% % then the cost of maintenance for those

23 assets will be inaccurate.

More than 95% 70 to 79%

90 to 95% Less than 70%

80 to 89%

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 29

7 MAX AND MIN
LEVELS ORDER OR ACCOUNT
CHARGED TO A WORK

% Maximum and
0.94
More
3 minimum levels for
than 95% the maintenance
% stores items are
59
90 to 95% 16. specified for what
%
percent of the
. 59
80 to 89% 1 6 inventory?

7%
70 to 79% 8.9

1%
2 6.9
Less than 70%

Statistical inventory control balances the costs of stock outs with the cost
of holding the inventory if applied correctly and based on reasonably
accurate usage data. Many firms estimate the minimum and maximum levels
and wonder why the system doesn’t keep the stock level up or why the
stockroom is bursting at the seams with surplus parts.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 30

7 MAX AND MIN
LEVELS ORDER OR ACCOUNT
CHARGED TO A WORK

There are several simple formulas to get started. For example, the safety
stock (SS) level is a simple version that works only with typical inventory.

SS = (|Umax – U|) *L, where Umax is the maximum probable usage

The safety stock ensures against stock-out even when demand or
lead times vary.

ROP = (U*L) + SS
ROP is the re-order point when a material requisition is issued.
It includes the lead time (L) and the variation in lead time (Umax)

U - Average one week usage

Umax - Maximum probable one week usage
L - Lead time in weeks

These would be the simplest starting points. Most computerized

maintenance management systems have calculators for managing the
inventory that are more sophisticated than this.

Minimum or reorder point, safety stock and order quantity are calculations
based on usage data, lead times, item costs and internal costs to process
the order. The safety stock is based on the variability of the usage over the
lead time. All major systems can help the inventory analyst calculate these
numbers.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 31

8 CRITICAL
MATERIALS ARE STOCKED
OR ACCESSIBLE

What percent of the

More than 95% 28.70% critical maintenance
materials is stocked
90 to 95% 22.87% in the warehouse or
in a location readily
80 to 89% 18.83% accessible when the
material is required?
70 to 79% 12.11%

Less than 70% 17.49%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

As previously noted, service levels for critical spare parts should be 100
percent. Generally, in a production department, the cost of downtime vastly
exceeds the cost of stocking the parts. It is usually easy to justify inventory
when there is a high downtime cost.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 32

9
100%

90%
INVENTORY
LEVELS ARE UPDATED DAILY FOR
RECEIPTS AND ISSUES

Maintenance stores inventory levels

80% are updated daily upon receipt of
70%
materials what percent of the time?

60%

50%

40%

30%
26.91% 26.46%
20% 21.52%
15.25%
10% 9.87%
0%

More than 95% 90 to 95% 80 to 89% 70 to 79% Less than 70%

Being sure to record both receipts and issues in near real time is important.
The lead time for each part contributes to the size of the safety stock and the
order quantity.

So, if you have to add two or even three days from the time of the receipt
to the posting of the receipt, you will have to carry higher stock levels to
maintain the same service level.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 33

9 INVENTORY
LEVELS ARE UPDATED DAILY FOR
RECEIPTS AND ISSUES

Non-updated issues of parts can get the stockroom into a world of trouble. If
the issues accumulate and an update run is performed weekly, you could be
near a stock out of critical parts without knowing about it.

Between the issues and the receipts, you can be adding a week or more to
the lead time.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 34

10 PERCENT OF
ITEMS CHECKED FOR ONE ISSUE
EVERY SIX MONTHS

80 to 89%

70 to 79%
14.35%
90% or more
% 1
08

4.
80
21.

What percent

%
of the items
are checked
for at least one
issue every six
%

months?
.0 0
3

50 to 69%
1

8.
57
%
Less than 50%

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 35

10 PERCENT OF
ITEMS CHECKED FOR ONE ISSUE
EVERY SIX MONTHS

Typical financial reporting requires annual physical inventories or cycle

counting that result in all parts being counted at least once a year. Special
categories of parts could be cycle counted twice a year or more often, such
as with critical parts, fast moving parts, etc.

GOAL 1 is the finance department

identifying and tracking the asset value of the
organization. Knowing the accurate number of
INVENTORY parts and the prices paid provides an accurate
snapshot of the inventory value.
IS COUNTED
FOR TWO GOAL 2 is accurately knowing the quantity
REASONS. on hand (QOH) to reconcile it with the system
record’s QOH. A variance of less than two percent
is acceptable, with increasing discomfort as the
number gets higher.

The people doing the counting should be careful to count even the item in
the back of the shelf. They also want to take off and discard plastic wrap,
strapping and shrink wrap. When reshelving the items, care must be taken to
avoid getting limited life span spares in the wrong order.

In this case, the world-class number is not the highest one. Fewer than 50
percent of the parts should be counted twice a year, while the rest can be
counted once per year.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 36

 SPONSORS
SYNOVOS

INDUSTRY INSIGHT BY MICHAEL WEINBERG

R
ooted in MRO storeroom operations, Synovos (formerly Storeroom
Solutions) is well versed in the pitfalls and best practices involved in
MRO supply chain management.

IN A RECENT SURVEY LIKE THE ONE DISCUSSED IN THIS REPORT,

SYNOVOS FOUND THREE KEY TAKEAWAYS INVOLVING MRO OPERATIONS:

Companies lack Little to no Technology is

planning and tracking
processes, with more
than half of those
surveyed reporting that
the MRO storeroom
frequently caused
reliability issues or
downtime.
communication exists underutilized or
between the storeroom, nonexistent. Nearly
purchasing and the rest a third of companies
of the company, with said they had
more than half saying less than half of
maintenance and the needed MRO
purchasing do not work materials in their
together. ordering system.

Now comes this research report mirroring some of those findings, specifically
that 25 percent of companies have less than 60 percent coverage of items
in the stores catalog, closely correlating to the third point above. Such low
coverage equates to higher costs for direct purchased items, while losing
visibility to usage, lead time, and other data.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 37

INDUSTRY INSIGHT
SYNOVOS

Little has changed since Synovos’ earlier survey. Companies remain poised
to fail, or at the very least, fail to reach potential because of inefficient
processes surrounding MRO storeroom operations and plant reliability
information management (PRIM) (download the PRIM framework and original
survey white paper at www.Synovos.com).

The solution involves establishing, measuring and evolving consistent

processes without restricting resources. Part of that solution is technology,
specifically an enterprise asset management (EAM) system, one that
brings value to the process while improving maintenance efficiency and
effectiveness.

MICHAEL WEINBERG
Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of
Corporate Development

Synovos provides comprehensive supply chain, asset, data and EAM technology
services that drive increased productivity, profitability and global competitiveness. Its
global solutions enable companies, manufacturers, large institutions and others to
streamline MRO/indirect materials management while improving overall maintenance
effectiveness and asset reliability.

www.Synovos.com

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 38

 SPONSORS
CONTRAQER

P
rocurement management software is key to helping manufacturers
purchase maintenance parts and supplies more efficiently and at
lower prices. It is also essential in maintaining an up-to-date inventory
database through integrations with computerized maintenance management
systems (CMMS) and enterprise asset management (EAM) software.

CLOSED-LOOP MRO PROCUREMENT

FEATURES
u Workflow that supports AIM-centric
business processes and procedures.
u Purchases and returns that automatically
update maintenance inventory levels.
u Accurate and detailed product catalog.
u Reporting on a wide range of metrics
including vendor performance and
inventory turnover.
u 3D printing support for critical
maintenance materials.
BENEFITS
u Fewer parts outages resulting in higher uptime and
more reliable assets and equipment.
u Fewer emergency shipments resulting in lower
shipping costs.
u Fewer risky “will fits” and substitutions.
u Lower inventory levels resulting in both lower
depreciation expense and working capital utilization.
u Lower purchase prices resulting in a lower overall
maintenance spend.
u Time saved and more accurate inventory information
through the elimination of tedious, manual work.

Contraqer is cloud-based software built to provide transparency and clarity in procurement.

Contraqer ties what you need to run your business with the vendors you buy from and automates
the entire process from initial requests through fulfilment.

www.contraqer.com

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 39

 RESOURCES

BOOKS
„ Kitting in Maintenance Made Simple
by Daniel DeWald and Jeff Shiver (Reliabilityweb.com, 2014)

„ Maintenance Storerooms and MRO Made Simple

by Daniel DeWald (Reliabilityweb.com, 2012)

„
Maintenance Strategy Series Volume 2, MRO Inventory and Purchasing
by Terry Wireman (Reliabilityweb.com, 2011)

„
Outsourcing MRO Finding a Better Way
by George Krauter (Reliabilityweb.com, 2016)

„
Smart Inventory Solutions Second Edition, Improving the Management
of Engineering Materials and Spare Parts
by Phillip Slater (Industrial Press, 2005)

„
Spare Parts Inventory Management, A Complete Guide to Sparesology®
by Phillip Slater (Industrial Press, 2016)

„
Surviving the Spare Parts Crisis
by Joel Levitt (Industrial Press, 2016)

ARTICLES
„
Key Performance Indicators for Stores and MRO
http://reliabilityweb.com/articles/entry/key_performance_indicators_for_
stores_and_mro

„ The Importance of Organizing MRO Inventory & Purchasing

http://reliabilityweb.com/articles/entry/importance_of_organizing_mro_
inventory_and_purchasing

„
Reliability vs The Capricious MRO Storeroom
http://reliabilityweb.com/articles/entry/reliability_vs_the_capricious_mro_
storeroom

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 40

 ABOUT
THE AUTHOR

J
oel Levitt, CRL, CPMM, is the Director of
Reliability Projects for Reliabilityweb.com.
Mr. Levitt is a leading trainer of maintenance
professionals and has trained more than 17,000
maintenance leaders from 3,000 organizations in 25
countries in over 500 sessions.

Joel has 30 years of experience in many facets of

maintenance, including process control design,
source equipment inspector, electrician, field service
technician, maritime operations and property
management. Prior to that, he worked for a CMMS
vendor and as an owner/manager in manufacturing.

Joel is a frequent speaker at maintenance and

engineering conferences and has written over 10
popular maintenance management texts. He has also
published more than 200 articles on the topic. In the
past, Mr. Levitt served on the safety board of ANSI,
Small Business United, National Family Business
Council and the executive committee of the Miquon
School. He is currently a member of the Association for
Facilities Engineering (AFE) and Vice President of the
Philadelphia chapter.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 41

 ABOUT
RELIABILITYWEB.COM
Created in 1999, Reliabilityweb.com provides educational information and peer-to-peer networking
opportunities that enable safe and effective maintenance reliability and asset management for organizations
around the world.

ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:
Reliabilityweb.com® (www.reliabilityweb.com) includes educational articles, tips, video presentations, an
industry event calendar and industry news. Updates are available through free email subscriptions and RSS
feeds. Confiabilidad.net (www.confiabilidad.net) is a mirror site that is available in Spanish.

Uptime® Magazine (www.uptimemagazine.com) is a bi-monthly magazine launched in 2005 that is highly

prized by the reliability and asset management community. Editions are obtainable in both print and digital.

Reliability Leadership Institute® Conferences and Training Events

(www.reliabilityweb.com/events) offer events that range from unique, focused-training workshops and
seminars to small focused conferences to large industry-wide events, including the International Maintenance
Conference, MaximoWorld and The RELIABILITY Conference™.

MRO-Zone Bookstore (www.reliabilityweb.com/bookstore) is an online bookstore offering a maintenance

reliability and asset management focused library of books, DVDs and CDs published by Reliabilityweb.com.

Association of Asset Management Professionals (www.maintenance.org) is a member organization and

online community that encourages professional development and certification and supports information
exchange and learning with 50,000+ members worldwide.

A Word About Social Good

Reliabilityweb.com is mission driven to deliver value and social good to the maintenance reliability and
asset management communities. Doing good work and making profit is not inconsistent, and as a result of
Reliabilityweb.com’s mission-driven focus, financial stability and success has been the outcome. For over a
decade, Reliabilityweb.com’s positive contributions and commitment to the maintenance reliability and asset
management communities have been unmatched.

Other Causes
Reliabilityweb.com has financially contributed to include industry associations, such as SMRP, AFE, STLE,
ASME and ASTM, and community charities, including the Salvation Army, American Red Cross, Wounded
Warrior Project, Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Autism Society of America. In addition, we are proud
supporters of our U.S. Troops and first responders who protect our freedoms and way of life. That is only
possible by being a for-profit company that pays taxes.
I hope you will get involved with and explore the many resources that are available to you through the
Reliabilityweb.com network.

Warmest regards,
Terrence O’Hanlon
CEO, Reliabilityweb.com

Reliabilityweb.com®, Uptime® Element™, A Reliability Framework and Asset Management System™, Uptime®,
Reliability Leadership Institute® and The RELIABILITY Conference™ are the trademark(s) or registered trademark(s) of
NetexpressUSA Inc. d/b/a Reliabilityweb.com and its affiliates in the USA and in several other countries.

RELIABILITYWEB.COM MRO BEST PRACTICES 42